Hensley Mother Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison After Being Convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death

LITTLE ROCK-April Adams will spend 20 years in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, which was handed down today by United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr.

On April 2, 2024, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Adams, 62, and her daughter, Amber Church, 38, both of Hensley. Both women were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death. In addition to the 20-year federal sentence for the fentanyl conspiracy, Judge Moody sentenced Adams to 20 years in federal prison for her conviction for distribution of methamphetamine. Both federal sentences will be served concurrently. Judge Moody sentenced Adams to serve three years' supervised release following the completion of her federal sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

The evidence presented at trial showed that on April 16, 2023, law enforcement officers from the Saline County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a residence on Crab Apple Circle in reference to multiple overdoses. Once law enforcement officers arrived, they located four individuals who overdosed. After medical personnel administered Narcan, three individuals survived, but one individual died at the scene.

During the trial, two witnesses who survived overdoses testified that after arriving at the residence on Crab Apple Circle, Adams offered methamphetamine, to the witnesses, Church, and the victim who died. After smoking the methamphetamine, Church asked Adams if she could provide to the group what Church said was the "cocaine" that Adams had in her room. Church then got the substance from Adams' room and provided it to the group, using some herself. The substance was in fact fentanyl.

Nearly immediately after ingesting the fentanyl the four individuals who used the drug began passing out, including Church. Adams, who did not use the substance that caused the other four individuals to overdose, waited approximately 45 minutes before notifying anyone about the overdoses, and then called a friend rather than emergency services.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Little Rock comprises agents and officers from Saline County Sheriff's Office with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The investigation was conducted by the Saline County Sheriff's Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Edward Walker and Jordan Crews prosecuted the case.

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Additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

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